Open any InDesign document and place an image.
Last updated on
Jun 2, 2026
Learn how to generate alt text for the images placed in your Adobe InDesign documents.
Generate Alt Text automatically
You’ll see an alt text badge icon at the lower-left side of the image frame, indicating that the image now has an automatically generated alternate text. A red mark on the badge means alt text wasn’t generated. Hover over it to view the error message.
If you crop an image or move it within the frame, you'll view the Outdated Alt Text icon. You can generate Alt Text manually to match the updated image.
Note
- You can show or hide the alt text badge icon (View > Extras > Hide Alt Text Badge or Show Alt Text Badge). Hiding the badge does not remove alt text and does not affect accessible exports.
- This feature is automatically turned on for users with unlimited credits.
- Every time you generate Alt Text, you'll consume one credit per generation (for a limited time only).
Select Window > Paragraph Styles and then double-click the default [Basic Paragraph] style. Select an option from the Language drop-down menu and in the Advanced Character Formats tab.
![A screeshot of the Paragraph Style Options of the [Basic Paragraph] style highlighting the Language.](https://helpx-prod.scene7.com/is/image/HelpxProdLoc/alt-text-language-id?$pjpeg$&jpegSize=300&wid=1600)
Hold Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) and select the icon to view and edit the alternate text in the Object Export Options panel.
You can select the Regenerate icon to generate new alternate text for the same image.
Select Done.
Turn off automatic Alt Text generation
Select Edit > Preferences > Generative AI (Windows) or InDesign > Preferences > Generative AI (macOS).
- Select Auto-generate Alt Text when placing images to automatically generate Alt Text whenever you place an image (turned on by default for users with unlimited credits).
- Select Add "Description generated by AI" tag for auto-generated Alt Text, so that the text is not tagged as AI-generated (turned on by default).
Open any InDesign document and place an image.
Select Object > Object Export Options.
Select Custom from Alt Text Source.
Select Alt Text. This will consume one credit per generation for a limited time.
Select the Regenerate icon to generate new alternate text for the same image.
Select Done.
Known issues
- Images that already contain alt text from previous versions won’t display the alt text icon.
Admin control for Enterprise users
- Admins can control access to the Alt Text feature for Enterprise users by turning it on or off in the Admin Console.
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